Peter Singer: The task of saving mothers and children starts today

As a Canadian, I am proud that our Prime Minister chose to focus the G8 meeting in Muskoka on maternal and child health. There are about eight million child deaths and 350,000 maternal deaths every year, mostly in the developing world. It is simply unethical that 13 times as many children die in developing countries than in rich countries, or that 50 times as many women die in childbirth. These are unconscionable figures since we have many solutions and can find new solutions where they are currently lacking.

Harnessing global political will to confront these challenges is essential. Fortunately, the G8 and G20 can play a critical role in global health. We need to take the solutions we know to scale to reach many more people. We also need to innovate to create new and better solutions. Scaling and innovation together will save lives.

We know a great deal about the causes of maternal and child health problems.

The main reasons for maternal deaths are bleeding, infection, obstructed labour, eclampsia (life-threatening high blood pressure in pregnancy) and unsafe abortion. The main causes of deaths in newborns are infection, birth asphyxia and pre-term birth. The main causes of childhood deaths beyond the newborn period are diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS and, underlying many of these deaths, malnutrition.

We also know a lot about many of the solutions. The G8 should continue to fund these crucial activities. I applaud the announcement to provide $7.3-billion over five years for maternal and child health. But while scaling up and delivering what we know is necessary, it is not enough. We need to innovate to discover new solutions — to lessen what we don’t know.

Related

What don’t we know about maternal and child health? We know very little about eclampsia (which kills women) and pre-term labour (which kills newborns) in the developing world. To prevent childhood deaths, we are just now developing a pneumococcal vaccine for the developing world, have only recently developed a rotavirus diarrhea vaccine and still don’t have a malaria vaccine — although a partially effective one is close. We also don’t know how malnutrition impedes the intellectual development of children, robbing them of their potential. Even with improved delivery of health services we have more to learn. A recent study showed that despite its name the Accelerated Child Survival and Development program, in two West African countries, did not accelerate survival.

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that we know 75% of the causes of and solutions to maternal and child health problems. We need to bring to scale this 75%. Scaling known interventions is primarily the funding role the G8 has traditionally filled. It’s important. It generates results. It should be strongly supported.

But then there’s the 25% we don¹t know. Here we need to innovate because innovation saves lives and provides new and better (and more affordable) ways of doing things.

Other leaders that attended the G20 summit in Toronto this past weekend — from China, India, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea (this year’s G20 co-chair) — likely have little time for the charity narrative alone (where rich countries send money to help poor countries) when their own growth engines are fuelled by innovation.

China has produced one of the first H1N1 vaccines on the market this year through a company called Sinovac. India has developed affordable insulin manufactured by a company called Biocon, an affordable hepatitis vaccine manufactured by a company called Shantha and affordable cataract care provided though business innovations at Aravind Eye Care. These examples show why G20 members must be engaged through innovation. In Canada, we have a new model for international aid, based on innovation.

Last month, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty launched Grand Challenges Canada, an independent not-for-profit corporation governed by its own Board of Directors, working with Canada’s International Development Research Centre and Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and funded by the Canadian government’s Development Innovation Fund at $225-million over five years. Grand Challenges Canada’s commitment is to fund developing world innovators, and, where appropriate, to link them to innovators in Canada. These developing world scientists are on the front lines. Their knowledge and skills will be key to identifying effective long-term solutions.

The Canadian government is test-driving this innovation approach which can provide a model for other G8 and G20 countries’ foreign aid, help bridge the G8 and G20 approaches to development and provide a way for different countries to work with each other, and also with foundations and other organizations, to tackle specific global challenges.

As a global community, we can no longer tolerate the unconscionable loss of women and children’s lives in the developing world. Both scaling the known and innovating to tackle the unknown are needed to build a better future for women and children — a future that starts today.